Most commerce transactions entail a vendor creating a receipt for a purchaser. Many times these receipts are lost, torn, or faded from too much exposure, or are discarded. These receipts are often required or desired to be kept in acceptable condition for a variety of business and personal reasons.
Providers of receipts have attempted to address some of the problems presented by paper receipts. The use of computing technology speeds the preparation and payment of the bill, at which time a receipt can be quickly printed. It is also possible to have receipts mailed to an address specified by the traveler, obviating the need for the traveler to carry the receipt. These methods, however, are merely attempts to get a paper receipt to the traveler more quickly or conveniently and do not address the problems inherent in paper receipts.
Business professionals or corporations require receipts for the purpose of reimbursement from their own company or another company (client) that is paying for their services and expenses. Small business owners require receipts as proof to the IRS of purchases made on behalf of their business and for reimbursement purposes as described above. Individuals require receipts as proof of purchase in case they want to return items they purchased to a vendor in exchange for other monies or goods, or to partake in rebates or warranties. Individuals also desire receipts for budgetary reasons in order to track cash and credit expenditures.
In almost all organizations, the reimbursement process can be quite laborious and time consuming. Original receipts need to be photocopied several times in case the originals are lost. Copies are sent to various controllers and in some cases organization(s) that are sponsoring the services and expenses. Because receipts come in various sizes, photocopying receipts can be cumbersome and difficult. After the receipts are photocopied, individuals often need to fill out detailed expense reports matching each receipt to a specific expense line item. In a number of instances, receipts must be physically attached (taped or stapled) to a blank sheet of paper before the original receipts and expense reports are sent to the appropriate parties involved. Business professionals must also deal with digital receipts from airlines and in some cases hotels. This often requires opening an email, printing the receipts, and then attaching the receipt to a blank piece of paper. Controllers who review the expense report spend significant time ensuring that expense items claimed on the expense report can be verified by the actual receipt.
Small business owners require receipts as proof to the IRS of purchases made on behalf of their business and for reimbursement purposes. Most small business owners spend significant amount of time organizing and preparing business expenses for tax purposes. Time constraints and lack of organization make it difficult to easily prepare business expenditures for tax purposes. Numerous small business owners “wait until the last minute” to organize and submit taxes. Small business owners must also create detailed expense reports as described above, and attach their receipts according to their clients' procedures.
Individuals desire to keep their receipts in case they want to return or exchange an item they purchased from a vendor. Often, the receipts are misplaced, lost or damaged, thereby making it difficult to return the item. Individuals also desire to keep their receipts in order to claim special rebates or warranties. Individuals are usually required to send original receipts as proof of purchase to the manufacturer or sponsor of a promotion. Individuals also like to collect receipts in order to keep track of cash and credit expenditures for budgetary purposes.
In addition to storage of receipts, one of the most onerous tasks faced by business people is the generation and reconciliation of expense reports. An expense report is often necessary to receive reimbursement for travel or other expenses. Expense report is used herein broadly, and meant to include any type of report or recordkeeping for tracking expenses, including IRS required recordkeeping. Today, each receipt must be manually entered into the expense report, even if the report is done electronically on computer. Many receipts require multiple expense report entries. Expense report is also meant to include a list of receipts.
A number of systems exist that allow a user to scan, organize and store expense reports in electronic format. Computer systems also exist that allow users to electronically enter expense reports for reimbursement or tax purposes. However, users of such systems are still required to manually enter receipt data into their expense reports.
A system therefore is needed that will both scan the expense receipts and capture the data on the expense receipts and enter that data into the expense report.